The war of words ahead of next week’s Winnersh by-election has intensified. With claims of hypocrisy levelled against the Conservative candidate.
Cllr Prue Bray, a sitting Liberal Democrat councillor for Winnersh, highlighted how Nick Kilby, the Conservative candidate, owns and is CEO of a company that lobbies for property developers.
Some of his company’s work included representing Crest Nicholson at the Arborfiield Green development.
She told Wokingham Today: “The Conservative candidate for election in Winnersh earns a living lobbying for property developers, including, I am told, developments on greenfield sites.
“Yet in Winnersh, he is positioning himself as the champion of protecting the same.
“This hypocrisy is typical of recent Conservative campaigns in Wokingham, where they promote something then argue against it when it becomes politically convenient to do so.
“Hall Farm and the Local Plan is the most recent example, but they have also done the same over their design for the California Crossroads and the reality that Wokingham is the lowest funded unitary authority in the country. “
In response, Pauline Jorgensen, leader of the Conservative group on Wokingham Borough Council, said, “This is nothing more than a desperate attempt by the Lib Dems to deflect attention from their plans for Hall Farm.
“Nick Kilby’s expertise, and position as a Winnersh resident, puts him in the perfect place to help residents challenge the Hall Farm development.
“Conservatives have listened to local people. They tell us that their Lib Dem councillors have failed to engage with them, and explain their plans.
“Residents remain unaware of the details and implications of Hall Farm.
“The staggering hypocrisy here is from the Lib Dems.
“Led by the ‘placard bearing’ Clive Jones, they campaigned against Hall Farm, presumably to get themselves elected and to win the Parliamentary seat.
“They did nothing for two years and then claimed it was impossible to change the plan. They said that they had received legal advice telling them that they could not make changes.
“But council officers confirmed that ‘no written legal advice existed’.
The Liberal Democrats have since made changes to the plan, despite claiming changes were impossible.
“But Hall Farm remains in their Local Plan.”
The Winnersh by-election takes place on Thursday, February 6.
The candidates are Chetna Jamthe (Liberal Democrats), Nick Kilby (Conservative Party), Samuel Langlois (Green Party), and Parvinder Singh (Labour Party).
